note 24356 deleted from control-structures by maxim

This is quoted from the downloadable PHP manual in regard to the Alternative Syntax used in the above 2 examples Warning Alternative syntax is deprecated as of PHP 4. Basically, it just generates unreadable code, and it gets very complicated when mixing it with the normal syntax. Although there are no plans to break this syntax, it cannot be ruled out that one day this will stop working. You are warned. I would not reccomend using the : and endif; syntax, stick to the traditional {} controls.